A CONTROVERSIAL sculpture remembering the Guildford Guys riots during the mid-1800s will not be built on a town centre roundabout after amended designs failed to allay crime and safety fears.

Members of Guildford Borough Council rejected the plans for the steel sculpture of a chair engulfed in flames at a meeting on Thursday last week (April 5).

Surrey Police was concerned that the artwork outside the force's town centre headquarters would become a magnet for antisocial behaviour and could be a safety hazard.

The permanent piece of art - referencing the town’s 19th century secret bonfire society - was proposed for the roundabout at the junction between Woodbridge Road and York Road.

But police believed people would climb the structure and that a fall from it could prove fatal.

The design was for a circular, dome-like fence featuring metal rods, with more rods extending upwards and twisted into asymmetrical shapes to represent a raging fire.

A large, empty chair was to be positioned at the centre, and the sculpture would weigh about two tonnes.

At the council meeting, Councillor Stephen Mansbridge said: "You can imagine late at night, young drunk people from the town running over a very busy roundabout to the sculpture and there will be accidents.

"From a pure planning consideration that is why this has to be refused."

"It is definitely the wrong place for a substantial piece of art," agreed Cllr Angela Gunning.

"I believe the decision is very simple on each of us," said Cllr Keith Taylor, chairman of the borough council's planning committee.

"Do we believe that the concerns of Surrey Police officers, that this will increase the risk of crime, are justified?

"If we do, then this application should be refused.

"So, for that reason I will personally have to vote against the approval of this application."

Cllr David Goodwin, who was in favour of approving the sculpture at the roundabout, said: "I feel the police are being overzealous.

"There are other works of art in the town and the same could happen and people could climb on them."

Cllr Tony Phillips added: "I feel the proposed bonfire sculpture on the roundabout would transform a functional, uninspiring, roundabout in the heart of Guildford and provide a landmark sculpture on a major gateway into Guildford's town centre.

"This unique sculpture would capture the public's imagination and encourage them to explore the town's past."

The sculpture was intended to remember the Guildford Guys, who held wild celebrations every November 5 during the mid-1800s.

The society was both loved and feared by residents and members often clashed with authorities.

As Guildford became more middle class and urbanised, the tradition became frowned upon and after a series of riots, the society was quashed by the military in 1865.

London-based Mooch, a company which specialises in public art and design, reduced the footprint of the sculpture from five metres to four metres to make it steeper in a bid to deter climbers. A circular bar surrounding the rods was also raised in height for the same reason.

David Bowie, a consultant for Surrey County Council's highways department, said the revised structure "is less likely to cause distraction" to motorists than the earlier design.

Electronic Arts submitted the application for the sculpture as part of a planning gain agreement - where a developer contributes to the local community when it is granted planning permission - after it built its new headquarters in Onslow Street.

Theresa Smith, designer of the sculpture, said after the meeting: "I am very sorry that it didn't make it.

"We will now go away and discuss the alternatives for where it can go in the town.

"If we followed this same principle through with all sculptures we would not have the lions in Trafalgar Square, the statue of Winston Churchill, the Duke of Wellington in Glasgow or even the Surrey Scholar in Guildford's High Street."